1) Field of the Invention
The field of this invention relates to growing of plants, and more particularly to a wick type of watering device for supplying of water to the plant within the pot.
2) Description of the Prior Art
A conventional method for watering of plants comprises adding water to the surface of the soil within the potted plant. This usually results in under watering or over watering of the plant which, in either case, results in death of the plant. In the past, it has been known to utilize a wick to eliminate over watering and under watering. A wick comprises a length of twine with one end of the twine being inserted into the soil of the potted plant, and the opposite end submerged within a water reservoir. The water flows by capillary action through the twine to then be released within the potted plant. This method of watering, known as wick-watering, supplies water into the soil only as needed, thus preventing over watering. Additionally, the reservoir generally is capable of supplying water to the plant over a period of several weeks helping to alleviate the possibility of under watering such as might occur when owners of a home are on an extended vacation. While wick-watering offers an improvement over conventional watering, prior methods of wick-watering have had several disadvantages. One of the most common ways to water by wick is to place the wick in conjunction with an insertion tool and then imbed the insertion tool within the plant pot. The disadvantage to this process is that the insertion tool remains fixed within the potted plant. Once the tool is used to insert the wick, there is no further purpose of the wick. Also, there has to be utilized a wick for each potted plant, and it is not uncommon for most homeowners to have ten, twenty or thirty potted plants, which means there has to be an equal number of wick insertion tools. This can result in being a significant, unnecessary expense.
Also, wick insertion tools of the prior art commonly insert the wick at a prescribed depth for each and every plant. For some plants, it is desirable to insert the wick only a slight distance from the bottom of the pot, further, other plants it is desirable to insert the wick some distance from the bottom, and still further plants insert the wick almost to the surface of the soil in the pot. Within the prior art type of wick insertion devices, there is no way to adjust this different depth insertion.
Also, leaving of the wick insertion probe within the soil of the plant may cause root damage of the plant over a period of time.